Spirit of Cedar and Grandfather

The spirit of the old growth red cedar — we know that it is there! The old growth red cedar we respect — it is alive! It is our relative. We come from one. The spirit of cedar is the face carved in the centre or middle of the tree.

On the opposite side, we have the eye of nature. We only need to take what we need, or in some cases, the entire tree (for an ocean-going canoe). We thank the maker or the creator. We talk to the cedar, and we say that you are going to be an ocean-going canoe. That is why you were put here within nature. We will use every part of you. Thank you, nas, (creator) for this gift. We revere nature — we revere the old growth cedar.

Tim Paul

Other available artwork you might like by Tim Paul:

Tim is a Nuu-chah-nulth artist from Esperanza Inlet on Vancouver Island. He has held the position of First Carver at the Royal British Columbia Museum, where he oversaw numerous commissions for totem poles for international sites such as Wakefield Park and Yorkshire Park in England, Stanley Park in Vancouver, and in Auckland. He left this position to oversee a program focussing on Native education for the Port Alberni School Board and Vancouver Island.